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USVI and VIWMA Agree to Clean Up Scrap Area Open Dump Next to Anguilla on St. Croix

Release Date: 9/9/2005
Contact Information:

FOR RELEASE: Friday, September 9, 2005

(#05103) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and the VI Waste Management Authority have reached an agreement that will improve conditions at a scrap area open dump alongside the Anguilla Municipal Solid Waste Landfill in St. Croix. The agreement, in the form of an Aministrative Order of Consent, will not be finalized until the public has the opportunity to review and provide comment on it. The agreement calls for the Virgin Islands to remove all scrap metal and other waste materials at the site, clean up any contaminated soil that may be discovered and restore the area.

"This open dump poses a potential threat to people's health and the environment," EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg said. "The solution is a comprehensive cleanup conducted in an expeditious manner with EPA oversight, which this proposed order will provide."

Under the agreement, in addition to the cleanup of materials and soil, the VI government must develop a territory-wide plan for the future management of scrap metal and other waste materials. If either the government or the VI Waste Management Authority fails to carry out the requirements of the final agreement, they will be liable for penalties.

EPA representatives will be available to discuss the proposed agreement at the VI Department of Education Curriculum Center in Kingshill, St. Croix on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The public comment period on the proposal ends September 15, 2005.

Written comments on the proposed Administrative Order on Consent, issued under the authority of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, must be mailed to EPA, postmarked on or before September 15, 2005, at the following address:

USEPA, Region 2
Leonard Grossman
290 Broadway, 22nd Floor
RCRA Compliance Branch
New York, N.Y. 10007-1866